Maria Hanlon headed to the former IKEA warehouse in Tottenham, now super-club Drumsheds, on a freezing cold Saturday afternoon for False Idols…
After seeing the line up on Instagram a few months ago featuring Eliza Rose, Sugababes and Jodie Harsh I knew I had to go! After arriving, I walked inside the Drumsheds warehouse which was so big and cold, but once we’d got our bearings (and a drink!) felt slightly less intimidating. There were three rooms, X, Y and Z. The main room (X), had huge hanging speakers, moving light rigs and a gigantic screen stretching width-ways across the room displaying vibrant visuals. The other two rooms were slightly smaller, but still huge considering this venue has a 15,000 cap and used to be an IKEA.
“We envision False Idols as a place where we, all tribes, people, and ravers can come together and enjoy music no matter their sexuality and gender. Of course, there is queer programming at its heart, but we are open to everybody, as long as you are open to everybody. This is a new cult for the brave, bold, and beautiful souls that what to revel in the love and joy that dance music is meant to herald…”
Clayton Wright, Little Gay Brother
The first set we saw in room X was DJ & broadcaster Jaguar’s. She was getting the crowd warmed up and bringing the energy! Everyone was loving it and it was the perfect way to start the day. Jaguar played big tunes throughout her set but ended on DRIIA’s ‘Anyone I Want’ which was released on her own label UTOPIA earlier this year.
Z is the smallest and sweatiest room and where we headed next to catch the end of DJ & producer MikeQ’s set. We made our way to the front and danced for the last 15 minutes of MikeQ’s set. I wish we’d managed to catch more as the energy was incredible. As a DJ myself I was in awe of his ability to have the crowd in the palm of his hand. His Instagram bio says “Inspired to Inspire” and I can confirm he certainly does.
After MikeQ’s set we made our way back to X, the largest room, to see Jodie Harsh. Jodie’s performance was one of my favourites, the banging house tunes, the visuals, the dancers, it had it all! Jodie posted on Instagram after which sums up her performance “what an amazing way to round off 2023. It’s been a year of ups and downs, but music truly brings people together and I’m glad we got to rave last night on the most epic scale.”
The day was going really quickly as we weaved in and out crowds in the different spaces, but next on our list of people to see was Ross From Friends in room Y. We found our pals at the front and danced along to this high energy set which featured plenty of edits of pop classics that everyone was loving. The room had strips of LED lighting, a smoke machine and empowering quotes projecting across the stage, adding to the fun vibe in Ross From Friends’ set.
Next up, was the act I was most excited to see – Eliza Rose. Eliza’s set was a DJ/live hybrid with colourful visuals, trippy projections and incredible dancers. Eliza is one of my favourite DJs and I remember seeing her play to a much smaller crowd at Spiritland in Waterloo back in February last year and it’s been amazing to see how she’s sky-rocketed since then, now playing to 15,000 people. Eliza started her set strong with pumping house and kept the energy high throughout whilst playing and performing some of her own tracks including the viral 2022 track she created with producer Interplanetary Criminal, ‘Baddest Of Them All’.
We roamed around the venue and stocked up on snacks (it was a long day!) and then it was time to get a prime spot for the headliner, the iconic Sugababes. We headed front right and warmed up by two stepping to Joshua James, who was playing strictly bangers and pop edits including Madonna’s ‘Hung Up’, keeping the almighty crowd entertained.
Then it was time, a little later than expected, but Mutya, Keisha and Siobhan aka the Sugababes walked centre stage. They kicked off their performance with ‘Freak Like Me’ which the crowd loved, everyone was singing along and people began climbing on each other’s shoulders. It felt more like a festival at this point as I looked around into the massive crowd.
The trio went on to perform other classics such as ‘Red Dress’ before my personal favourite ‘Push The Button’, then ‘Hole In The Head’, ‘Overload’ and Love Actually ballad ‘Too Lost In You’. A stand out track for me was ‘Ugly‘, I remember loving that song when I was younger and it was particularly powerful seeing the stunning visuals of different peoples faces on the screen as the gigantic crowd sung back the lyrics whilst swaying and hugging each other.
After Sugababes had walked off stage, the day was done and it was time to head home, the crowd funnelled out and I left feeling full of joy after seeing so many incredible artists perform. False Idols have already announced their next event on Saturday 13th April 2024 and I imagine the line up will be pretty impressive based on the last one, so don’t miss out and grab a ticket!
Tickets for the next False Idols at Drumsheds here.
Words: Maria Hanlon
Listen to The Voices Breakfast Show with Maria Hanlon on the 1st Friday of the month 9-11am on voicesradio.co.uk
Photography: Jack Farrar
